Keto lemon tart features a tender almond flour crust with a sweet lemon mascarpone filling and sugar free lemon curd. It’s a heavenly low carb treat for lemon lovers.
As the warm weather approaches, nothing is more tasty than this keto lemon tart. It has a bright, fresh flavor that’s perfect for all of your spring celebrations.
I seem to be making a lot of keto pies and tarts lately. I kicked off this trend with my beloved Keto Coconut Cream Pie. And I quickly followed it up with my Rhubarb Crumble Tart.
I don’t know what it is but something about the beautiful weather has me dreaming of tender keto pie crust filled with all sorts of luscious fillings.
And if you love lemon, this is a must make dessert recipe. It’s so insanely creamy and rich, with that lemony tang you crave.
Recipe Inspiration
If you have yet to meet my easy keto lemon curd, let me introduce you. You should make good friends with it, because it’s just that good.
I’ve made several versions of keto lemon curd tart before. One of them lives in my Easy Keto Desserts cookbook and features mini individual tarts.
I’ve been meaning to make a full size version for some time now. But I decided to give this one a little twist, with two distinct lemon layers. The beautiful tub of mascarpone cheese languishing in my refrigerator was all the inspiration I needed!
How to make keto lemon tart
Read these tips to make the best keto lemon tart!
The crust
This is simply my easy keto pie crust baked in a tart pan.
- I recommend using a ceramic pan but you can use a metal tart pan if that’s all you have. Because metal heats up more efficiently, it may brown a little faster so keep your eye on it.
- Grease the pan, regardless of the material it’s made from.
- It will not seem fully baked when you remove it from the oven but will firm up as it cools.
The lemon curd
- If you are familiar with my lemon curd recipe already, you will notice that I changed the sweeteners to include a little bit of allulose or BochaSweet. This is simply to inhibit the recrystallization that happens when using erythritol based sweeteners.
- If you can’t access either of these, you can simply use powdered Swerve but do expect it to be a bit gritty after it chills.
- If you use all Allulose or BochaSweet, the filling and curd may take a lot longer to set. My first attempt had more allulose in it and it took a full 48 hours before I could properly slice the tart.
- This curd recipe uses whole eggs. It’s easier to make, and slightly lighter and fluffier from the egg whites.
- Watch it carefully. Do not walk away for even a second or you may end up with lemon flavored scrambled eggs!
- Let it cool to room temperature before adding it to the filling.
The filling
To create a two tone layered tart, I also created a lemony mascarpone filling.
- Mascarpone is a thick rich Italian style cream cheese that has a sweet taste without any sugar or sweeteners at all.
- If you don’t have mascarpone, you can use cream cheese instead. Be sure to soften it properly so you don’t get any lumps.
- Beat the sweetener in first until well combined, then beat in the lemon zest and lemon extract.
- Then add 1/2 cup of the lemon curd and beat until smooth. Spread in the tart crust.
- The filling needs to set and I recommend just popping the whole tart into the freezer to expedite this process. After the filling is set, you can spread the remaining curd over the tart and refrigerate.
Can you make Keto Lemon Tart in advance?
You sure can and in fact, I recommend it! A tart like this can take several hours to chill and set, and it’s even better after it sets for a full 24 hours.
I wouldn’t make this tart more than 2 days in advance, to keep that fresh lemony flavor.
Store any leftovers tightly wrapped in the refrigerator. I have not tried freezing this one and do suspect that freezing may affect the consistency of the lemon curd topping.
More delicious keto desserts with mascarpone
- Easy Keto Tiramisu
- Keto Pumpkin Cheesecake
- Chantilly Berry Cake
- Mascarpone Mousse
- Sugar Free Tiramisu Semifreddo
- Mascarpone Chocolate Cake
Keto Lemon Curd Tart
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 recipe Almond Flour Pie Crust
Lemon Curd
- 3 large eggs
- 6 tbsp powdered Swerve Sweetener
- 2 tbsp (2 tbsp) BochaSweet, or allulose
- 1/4 cup (61 g) freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 tsp lemon zest
- 4 tbsp butter, cut into 4 pieces
Filling
- 12 ounces (340.2 g) mascarpone cheese (or cream cheese), softened
- 1/4 cup (45.5 g) powdered Swerve Sweetener
- 2 tsp lemon zest
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) lemon extract
- 1/2 cup (113 g) lemon curd
Instructions
Crust
- Preheat the oven to 325F and lightly grease a 10-inch ceramic tart pan. (You can use a metal pan too but watch it more carefully as the crust will bake and brown faster).
- Prepare the crust as instructed, and press firmly into the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Prick all over with a fork and bake 15 to 20 minutes, until golden brown. Remove and let cool completely.
Lemon Curd
- While the crust is baking, prepare the lemon curd.
- In a glass or ceramic bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, whisk together the eggs, sweeteners, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Whisk continuously until the mixture thickens, about 10 minutes. Watch carefully as it will thicken all of a sudden.
- Immediately remove from heat and add the butter. Let sit a few minutes to melt and then whisk until smooth and creamy. Let cool at least 15 minutes.
Filling
- In a large bowl, beat the mascarpone with the powdered sweetener until well combined. Beat in the lemon zest and lemon extract.
- Add 1/2 cup of the cooled lemon curd and beat until smooth. Spread the filling in the cooled crust. Freeze 1 hour to set.
- Spread the remaining lemon curd over the filling and chill another 3 hours to set before serving.
Nutrition
Free Bonus: Secrets to Keto Baking!
Sign up for your favorite recipes delivered straight to your inbox plus get our FREE bonus: Secrets to Keto Baking!
Simply Delicious!! I have had my eye on this recipe for several weeks & decided to add it to my holiday dessert list. I made it today, giving myself plenty of time for each step!! Pie crust recipe, is so easy & came out perfect! Lemon curd whipped up like a dream & the filling was so simply & easy. Whole process was well worth it!! Carolyn, you have once again provided another recipe that certainly delivers & is fantastic for those of us who love “lemony” treats!! Highly recommend everyone to try this recipe! It doesn’t disappoint!! Yum-yum!
Super fun to make this!! But I have a question: the last 3 hour chill – is that in the freezer or the fridge? Thank you!
Chill = fridge. Freeze = freezer. Hope that helps!
I make this lemon curd all the time…I put it on Greek yogurt.So delicious!
Is there a reason you you bocha and swerve? Could one use all bocha instead?
I’ve found that when using Bocha alone, it takes a long time to set properly. But you’re certainly welcome to try!
Delightful! Absolutely delightful! Love the sweet tartness of this delicious tart! Totally would eat this any day always! Super delish! Love that it’s keto friendly!!
The mascarpone and lemon blend is just delicious. This is a lovely, fresh treat!
I love lemon curd and I love tarts – this recipe is amazing! thank you for sharing this!
I love looking at your recipes. I just can’t eat swerve.I do fine with allulose, but you have mentioned that it doesn’t work as well.
Made this for my dad’s 84th birthday celebration. He and my mom really liked it! I liked it, too, especially that it’s nice and lemony but doesn’t taste overly sweet. I’ll definitely make it again.
Well happy birthday to your dad!
Involved but oh so good. Thanks for the great recipe and tips.
This is amazingly delicious. Used cream cheese because that’s what I had, and added blackberries from our bush to the top.
Yum, sounds fabulous!
I made the lemon curd ,it is delicious!I haven’t made the pie yet, but I mix the lemon curd with my plain Greek yogurt…so good!!
This is so refreshing, and the crust is just the right amount of crispy!
Yum! Love lemon recipes…the more lemon the better – this looks amazing!
I’m a sucker for lemon desserts. Thank you for making my life a little happier 🙂
This recipe sound delicious as always and as always I read the instructions and think ‘I wish this was using metric measurements so that the world outside of America (me) could get in on the act’ “cup” means absolutely nothing to us Europeans apart from what we drink out of ; grams or ounces would make for more exact measurements and guarantee more consistent results. ????♀️
Try ordering a set of plastic measuring cups on amazon to help you with all American recipes:) They are not expensive and so handy to have!
How do I love thee? Let me count the recipes and the pounds falling off me w/your help….
I am a lemon freak, and will make this today if I can use a pie pan instead of a tart pan (don’t have one)
Elizabeth Barrett Browning would be pleased to be quoted in relation to the keto diet, I think! 😉
This looks divine! I was just thinking about lemon curd the other day.
I just wanted to thank you for adding the “Jump to recipe” button at the top. My eyes can’t handle looking at screens when they’re scrolling so it’s difficult finding the exact spot when I have to look away to scroll.
I read the whole article, so I know your tips . My problem is size , I am the only one that would eat this tart. It sounds lovely but it would be to large for me. Since it probably would not freeze well. Do you have any tips for making it samller ?
Pam, do you have my cookbook for two? Or my Easy Keto Desserts? Both of them have smaller versions…
No I havve Ultimate keto baking, and Keto dinners. I did not see the book for two. I looked on your site and on amazon.
Pam, in case you haven’t found your answer yet, or for others, too…
The Keto for 2 (aka Small Batch Keto) is an eBook and very worth ordering. Lots of recipes for all sorts of things, not Solely desserts….
Mouthwatering…! Lovely that this tart doesn’t require any coconut flour at all 🙂 Thanks for having insert notes for those like us in EU who haven’t access to allulose nor BochaSweet, really appreciated (to avoid or lessen crystallization I find someway helpful to add a bit of inulin and I’ve read that also adding a tiny amount of xanthan or guar gum can help enhance creaminess dissolving crystals as it’s used with this purpose by icecream artisans, so someone extended the trick to cold creams and curds, but I haven’t verified yet). I’ll try the recipe as it is, step by step, but I’m also going to experiment with some pine nuts on the top to garnish, or slievered almonds, that my nephews love and will certainly be happy to find as add on for them 🙂
Yes, xanthan gum inhibits crystallization so it may work.
Hi Carolyn,
do you know how much xanthan gum I should add to the curd recipe? I cannot find either allulose or BochaSweet around me 🙁
No more than 1/4 tsp or it will get slimy. I don’t know that it will totally keep it from recrystallizing.
Both sweeteners are better purchased online. I don’t know any grocery stores that carry them. I get mine on Amazon. https://amzn.to/3xUS5s3
Thank you Carolyn!
I used 1/8 tsp and it came out perfect. Your recipe made 24 perfect little lemony mini tarts for my team. Ok, they didn’t get all 24 ????